World: Payments Are the Problem

The changed world circumstances were also reflected last week in Bonn,
as U.S. and British delegations sat down with West German officials to
bargain for more German marks for Allied soldiers. Almost forgotten
were the old fears of a sudden rush of Soviet tanks into Berlin. In
fact, Britain and the U.S. were clearly more concerned with their
balance-of-payments problems than they were with the Communists.

Britain is so hard pressed that it insists that Germany buy enough goods
to offset the $215 million-per-year cost of the 55,000-man British Army
of the Rhine. Otherwise, they intend to start immediate reductions,
trimming the...